Klingon beauty in eye of beholder

Kelly Sheckler is blond with a heart-shaped face and a warm smile. Five feet tall on a good day, she’s mother to three children, wife to Tom, employee of the Environmental Protection Agency, keeper of a tidy home in Lawrenceville.

But when she crosses a stage at the downtown Sheraton Sunday, she will be something else altogether: KhaZelia VanGough —- warrior, leader and Miss Klingon Empire 2008 hopeful.

Miss Klingon Empire is an annual pageant at DragonCon, the sci-fi/fantasy geek gathering that descends upon Atlanta every year to pay homage to Superman, Storm Troopers and Star Fleet, among others. To win Miss Klingon Empire, a contestant need not have the best costume or the prettiest (ugliest?) face. Simply, she must embody a Klingon, a fictitious alien race famous for its ridged forehead and brutal manner that debuted in the original “Star Trek” TV series and has been a part of the “Trek” franchise ever since.

Contestants don’t catfight —- female sci-fi lovers tend to stick together —- but they don’t play around, either. Thousands of audience members won’t let them. When a past contestant appeared on stage in a Hooters uniform, the audience was at first entertained but quickly dismissed her, judges recalled. Klingon women may be known for ample bosoms, but they’d never show them that way.

And once the queen is awarded her crown, trophy, sash and flowers, judges name no first or second runner-up. In the Klingon world, there are only winners and losers.

“It really comes down to selling what you’ve got,” says Autumn Skye-Booth, a pageant winner and coach who has judged Klingon misses for six years. “Some of these ladies, I think they probably would be Klingons if they had a choice in the matter.”

If they’re like Sheckler, maybe they don’t.

The 44-year-old first discovered her inner Klingon a few years ago, as she got to know friends from work as unabashed outside-the-office “Star Trek” fans. Sheckler herself was a DragonCon-attending fantasy fan who fit easily in to their Klingon sisterhood, Clan IpaQ.

She learned that Klingons value honor, leadership and talent. Now, Sheckler says, whether she’s running a meeting at work or throwing together a meal at home, she’s reminded: “There is Klingon in me.”

With the help of her clanswomen, including a few past pageant contestants, she has assembled a costume and constructed a three-minute talent presentation with a “Klingons go green” (as in environmental, not Vulcan, like Mr. Spock) theme to match her job.

The look starts with a black, skin-tight body suit and a heavy, long black jacket with oversized silver shoulders. She applies a heavy layer of foundation, thick black eyeliner and dark lipstick. Then she adds an extra-tall ridged forehead and an unruly red-black mane, all glued to her face and hiding away her long blond locks.

“If I woke up one night and saw that thing, I’d probably die,” says daughter Kaitlyn Sheckler, 16. Despite her mom’s obsession, she says she’s still not really sure what a Klingon is, and she’s positive that none of her friends do.

“‘Babe,’” Sheckler’s husband, Tom, told her when she began letting her inner Klingon out, “‘I just don’t see you as a Klingon.’ “

But she saw it in herself, she said, in the Klingons’ wild dark side and assertive manners. Ultimately, her commitment wooed the family. Which is fortunate. When a Klingon speaks, the mythology goes, people listen or they die.

“If she says she likes it, I guess it’s OK,” Kaitlyn said as her mom modeled her pageant outfit this week. “She’s always doing stuff for us, her kids. For once, it’s just her, doing something for herself.”

Not that it’s changed her much. She kisses the family collie, Dexter, and likes watching sci-fi movies with her husband. She doesn’t wear much makeup and looks good in pastels. Every mother, every wife, every woman has a little Klingon inside her, Sheckler says.

“It’s not how you look, it’s not how you dress, it’s your attitude,” she says. “Klingon women, we are wonderful.”

IF YOU GO

Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant

4 p.m. Sunday. Grand Ballroom, Sheraton Hotel, 165 Courtland St. Participation and admission limited to DragonCon pass holders. Sunday pass is $30. 404-249-6400; www.dragoncon.org